Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural or any of its characters...I make no profit off of this.
Twenty year old Sam Winchester awoke from his peaceful sleep by an intense and irritating knocking. Casting a glance towards his sleeping girlfriend, Jess, he gently tossed away the warm seclusion of the blankets and stumbled to his feet.
The bedside clock blinking the luminescent 3:27 only added to his discomfort. Whoever was outside better have had a damn good reason for waking him up this early on his day off from classes.
Pulling back the beige window curtain enough to peek outside, he moved his eyes towards the porch. Ignoring any sharp intakes of worry he walked quickly to the door and opened it with a slow jerk.
"Dad?" His voice was merely a whisper in the wind...barely there and inaudible.
"Sammy. Can I...can I come in?" His father didn't look him directly in the eyes which was by far one of the strangest behaviors he'd seen to date. John Winchester hunter-extraordinaire...ignoring his son's facial expressions. That was a great one.
Despite all of that the younger man moved to the side and ushered him inside and towards the small kitchen that the apartment possessed. "What's going on, Dad? Why are you here?" He tried to keep all venom clear from his voice.
"It's Dean, he's..."
A faint, feminine voice stopped the man from speaking. "Sam? Sam, honey?"
His son seemed unalarmed. "Kitchen!" Graceful footsteps approached quickly before the woman forming them came to stand next to his boy.
She had blonde hair the color of golden rays of sunshine. A white gown cascaded down her features and a confused expression rested on her face. "Sam?"
"Jess, this is my dad, John Winchester. Dad, Jess is my girlfriend."
John nodded against the feelings of loss for his family and managed to muster a small smile. "Nice to meet you." Jess gave a small nod and gripped Sam's arm in a notion of comfort.
"So, my dad was just about to reveal the reason behind his oh so pleasant visit." Sam's voice was laced with sarcasm and man inwardly groaned but gave a sorrowful nod.
"Sam...Dean's gone."
The younger Winchester shot his father a defiant look that masked his concern and gave a slight shrug. "So he went out to a bar...met some chick...he'll stumble back eventually. He always does."
John shook his head as tears once again welled in his eyes. "Not that kind of gone, Sam. Your brother, oh god, Dean's dead, Sammy. Dean's dead." The older man's face feel into his hands as he struggled to contain himself.
Sam's composure immediately changed. Gone was the emotionless man and replaced was the ten year old boy who thought his brother was invincible. "No...no." His legs gave out and he fell to the tile with a crash. Jess moved smoothly next to him. Sobs consumed him but he couldn't slow them. Somehow he managed to form one word. "How?"
His father looked up and met his eyes for the first time that night. "We were working on a job...I went out and he stayed behind. I thought he deserved a break...just some down time. I came back late and his bed was empty. I just...I just thought he went out for a drink. I showered and changed." The man's voice became distant now as if he was trying to avoid the memories likely to consume him. "I came out of the bathroom and there was my boy. He was on the ground...blood...I. Just a gunshot wound. He was already gone." Tears fell like rain from his eyes.
"Do you know what did it?"
John looked away as he realized that Sam wanted an answer that he wasn't sure he wanted to give. Sam wanted to know if he knew the monster responsible...what was wrong with this world. "Nothing...Dean...he killed himself. He did it himself."
A fragile silence followed that was shattered in a single moment. A cry broke through the reverie that conveyed more pain than anything should. It was a cry of the loss of a brother...of a protector. A cry of a startling realization and guilt. And a cry of a little boy who just learned that even superheroes aren't invincible.
